Operation Airstream

Life, MINIMIZED

The minimalist movement happening worldwide is so compelling to me that I've decided to try it for myself. I've purchased the Kon-Mari book, follow minimalist-movement pages on Facebook, and am detecting a theme on my Pinterest boards. I am am currently in the process of selling and donating the stuff until I'm down to a bare minimum. I love the idea that when all of our excess things are stripped away, it's just us left over. With our ideas and beliefs and people (and animals). Well, and sports equipment (let's be realistic here). I finally accept the fact that my things got in the way of my being, consumerism got in the way of real life. Now, mind you, I still like nice things and wherever I am, there is certain amount of luxury I enjoy. In other words, I'm not going to be in a sleeping bag on the floor of my house. Just saying.

Capsule Wardrobe

As part of the process, for the upcoming spring/summer season I'm trying out the idea of a capsule wardrobe. The concept is this...40 items, including clothes, shoes, bags, accessories. Everything. (Notes for the millionth time that I will be doing laundry a lot more often.) My warm-weather spring/summer "uniform" is shaping up to be cute tees, denim tops, skirts, an occasional kimono, capri pants, sandals, flip-flops and sneakers. (There will be posts and photos. Stay tuned!)

The Capsule Office™

It's all in preparation for the next stage of life, which involves trimming my life, my guy's life, and our dog into approximately 250 square feet. That's right, we are actively working toward our dream of heading out onto the open road in an Airstream trailer. And that triggered an idea: because necessity is the mother of invention, what we are developing is a capsule office methodology for nomads. The end result - a way to seamlessly work office essentials that support my two businesses and my fella's photography business - will be a method that can be copied by our fellow gypsies, who are readying themselves to take their show on the road. For our capsule office to work, I'm contemplating the bare essentials necessary to operate from an Airstream. What can and should be digitized? What are the best tools, equipment and resources for minimizing my office footprint? And, what can I simply not live without?

The Kon-Mari Method

The next blog is about winnowing down the stuff in my house. There will be tears, and pictures. Watch for the updates here and join the mailing list if you want early announcements and even more up close and personal on The Wildflower Uprising and Operation Airstream!

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Thank you for signing up for The Wildflower Uprising newsletter! Watch this space for updates on Operation Airstream and information about setting up your side hustle business. Onward, Wildflower! xo

The timing will be perfect

If my fella and I had our way, we would already be out in our Airstream, finding adventures and traveling the world (or, you know, the US and Canada). But there's that sometimes bothersome little detail about predictable income. While we work out the details, I am grateful for our sweet little home in Salt Lake City, where I can build and stabilize my two businesses (The Wildflower Uprising and rainseed marketing). Isaac has a side hustle job that is paying some bills and providing insurance. His photography business is taking off, and taking on a decidedly local feel. So, we're working all of that out. We know we'll do it, the when and how is still tbd.

Slow down, you move too fast. (You've got to make the moment last.)

It all reminds me to slow the heck down and try not to get too attached to the when and how, instead to stay focused on the what. Reinforcing that concept, last year I attended a weekend retreat run by a super talented friend of mine, where we discovered our Core Desired Feelings, based on The Desire Map by Danielle LaPorte. I love the concept, it's all about switching out of the goal setting "I really should do this" punishment cycle, and opens up every single moment of life to how you want to feel. It really does work, too. If you line up your life to how you want to feel, then the "shoulds" turn into "want tos", and necessary stuff (like earning an income and paying bills on time) is automatically baked into the concept. (If you want to feel free, for example, or lit-up, or anything else good, you have to take care of doctor appointments and credit scores.) I love my core desired feelings so much I turned them into a Pin:

Living my life like it's golden

Just seeing them here in this blog post makes me happy. Is my life limitless, awake, golden, and lit-up every day? Well, it's awake for sure. :) But when I'm sideways, or I'm deciding if I want to attend some event that is causing dread, I run it through the Core Desired Feelings filter. It's guaranteed insta-realignment.

So, while our departure might be a bit delayed, it's still going to happen. Ideas expand, then contract, then some progress happens, then contraction again. Rinse, repeat. Sometimes when obstacles crop up, it makes you re-visit whether you're supposed to be pursuing something. That's happily not been the case here. We're still working toward our plan to leave with the dog for the open road. When I think about it, my entire body zings with excited energy. It will happen, exactly when it's supposed to.

In a year from now, Isaac & I are grabbing our dog O'Malley and will head out on the road. We've researched and pursued a variety of options but always come back to Airstream. And so, with a dream and a plan, we begin the culling process.

The banner above was designed by my uber-talented designer, Jess at June Letters Studio. I'm using it on August 9 (and more dates tbd) at the Salt Lake Urban Flea Market. There, I'm selling clothes, shoes, boots, household items and other things that no longer serve me.

I wish I could effectively explain how much of a departure this is for me. I love my "stuff", it once defined me (or so I thought). It's all high end, designer, gorgeous. Some lucky people will be getting great deals on beautiful things! But I'm ready to say goodbye and thank it for the role it once played. I am so incredibly clear on the need to minimize. I've had real awareness for the past couple years that my "stuff" had somehow migrated from bringing happiness to triggering stress. (Especially since we downsized homes when we moved to Salt Lake.)

I don't know how long we'll be on the road. The wind will let us know when it's time.

Are you ready to downsize? Have you already done it? Please share your experience with us in the comments below!